This invention relates to a personnel status board which is programmable with information regarding the arrival or departure of employees on various shifts whose names are recorded thereon.
Such personnel call boards have heretofore been largely mechanical, and hence suitable for a small number of employees, and becoming large, cumbersome and awkward where information is kept regarding a large number of employees. Canadian Pat. No. 810,444 of Lahmer issued Apr. 15, 1969 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,227)describes one such mechanical device wherein the holes of a peg board-like structure are illuminated as required opposite in-out and time designations along one axis to indicate the status of personnel listed along the other.
Other patents of general background interest include U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,778 of Herold et al. issued July 20, 1971 in which a computerized display board for address locations is described and illustrated; U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,747 of Lurie issued Oct. 26, 1965 in which a signalling system to indicate for example unit status at a plurality of stations in a hospital is taught; U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,200 of Bunting issued Aug. 10, 1971 in which a signal board used as a doctor's register is disclosed; U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,698 of Hunt issued June 8, 1976 in which a remote control and display panel for eating establishments is described, wherein orders as to items and quantities per item, for a number of customers, is fed into a composite memory system and displayed on a panel so the chef can perceive the same.
None of these prior devices however is suitable for use in storing information as to the time of arrival or departure of a large number of personnel, as is the object of the present invention.